Southern Humboldt grid lags, threatening electrification plans and local growth

Southern Humboldt’s electric grid has about 70 megawatts of transmission capacity into the regional system, less than half of Humboldt County’s roughly 170-megawatt peak demand, and that gap is already shaping what can and cannot be built in Garberville, Alderpoint, Bridgeville and beyond.

That mismatch came into sharp focus at a town hall in Garberville on April 4, held at Cecil’s Restaurant and arranged by 2nd District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell. Assemblymember Chris Rogers spent two hours taking questions from a small crowd that included cannabis industry survivors, childcare providers, foresters and teachers, all of them confronting the same basic problem: California is pushing EVs, heat pumps and electrification, while much of Southern Humboldt still lacks the electrical backbone to support those upgrades at scale.

County energy planning materials show how tight the system already is. Humboldt County imports about 90 percent of its natural gas, and much of the electricity used locally is still tied to natural gas and biomass. In a region that is supposed to help carry out the state’s climate goals, the transmission bottleneck means even ordinary projects can run into delays, higher costs and design changes before they ever break ground.

PG&E has already acknowledged the strain. In July 2023, the utility said more than 70 potential new customers and more than 30 existing customers in Southern Humboldt were affected by capacity limits first disclosed in November 2022. To address the problem, PG&E acquired three Tesla Megapack batteries for a pilot project aimed at controlling voltage on an extended distribution line in rural southern Humboldt, along with upgrades at the Garberville substation. The utility said those improvements could bring some new customers online by the end of 2024, with remaining new business applications starting in 2027.

The stakes go well beyond one utility project. CAISO’s draft 2023-2024 Transmission Plan, released April 1, 2024, identified 26 new transmission projects costing an estimated $6.1 billion, with offshore wind potential off the North Coast driving much of the need. A California Energy Commission evaluation published in July 2024 and updated in August 2024 said Humboldt County is being studied for onshore transmission infrastructure tied to offshore wind resources, while warning that permitting challenges could slow the work.

For Southern Humboldt, the issue is no longer abstract. State policy is moving toward an all-electric future, but the local grid still sets the pace, and the communities from Garberville to the Eel River Valley are being asked to wait for the wires, substations and capacity that make that future possible.